Kulshi Buffet restaurant - Urmston

T 0161 747 1777
A 47 Station Rd, Urmston, Manchester, M41 9JG
E info@kulshi.co.uk
W www.kulshi.co.uk

A contingent of six members of the CurryCouncil descended on Urmston for the May 2009 outing. On a bright summer evening we entered the impressive 100-year-old grand building that is the Kulshi. The former roller-skating rink, supermarket and snooker hall has hugely an impressive half-moon ceiling and original wooden beams. Kulshi's origins lie from the port town of Chittagong, Bangladesh where members of the family run restaurant are from.

The Kulshi Buffet restaurant offer an ‘all you can eat’ midweek deal costing just £7.95. With a huge array of starters, mains and deserts on offer, this represented excellent value for money. However the CurryCouncil opted for the A La Carte menu – to provide a fairer comparison with previous restaurants. This decision was also helped by the fact Madras didn’t appear on the buffet selection (on this occasion).

It was a no-show for Paul Day (Sperminator number 5) whose better half has fallen pregnant again. Meanwhile Andrew Hague had forgotten he was working late. Rumors’ circulated suggesting that a re-run of the first series of “Come Dine With Me” had begun at 8pm on Channel 4 – the real reason for his absence.

The night began in the worst possible way. Six pints of Cobra were ordered, two of which were quickly replaced after complaints by Woodman and Noble regarding the taste. Woody had suggested that "the Cobra could do with a bit of a lemonade top to take the nasty taste off it". After much deliberation and tasting each other’s pints to decide “is it dodgy, or is it me?” all 6 drinks (plus the replacement two) were sent back, eight in total!. The waiter to his absolute credit, didn’t hesitate and replaced them with 6 bottled regular sized Cobras, which immediately hit the spot.

The poppodoms tasted fresh and arrived with a rather thick but tasty mango chutney. As the dip-shortage occurred quite rapidly, additional replenishments duly arrived at no extra charge (always well received by the CurryCouncil).

We savored the taste of our Cobra and ordered our dishes. This sparked the monthly debate of how many rice, naan and side dishes would be required to satisfy our healthy appetites. The main source of disagreement, yet again surrounded Peshwari Naan Vs Plain Naan. The peshwari came out on top 3-1.

Rather amusingly Gaz Jordan’s request for “ …. one portion of chips” was met by an immediate response of “do you want peas and gravy as well?” by the waiter. Comedy gold.

It was also noted that the said waiter spoke in the same manner and style to Geoffrey “the butler” from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. From this point forward we were expecting him to say the immortal words of “Master William”…. sadly he didn’t.


A fantastic mix of starters arrived. First the Chicken Preeto starter: This was similar to chicken chat in many ways but was served on a crispy paratha bread, salad and hot barbecue sauce – this received a real thumbs up from Bean, Noble and Jordan. The waiter also demonstrated his knowledge by explaining in detail how the paratha bread is made and then cooked.

CMS opted for the Chicken Tangary, this arrived on-the-bone and marinated in ground almonds, pistachio, black pepper, yoghurt and lemon juice barbecued over a charcoal grill.

Woody opted for the “excellent” Gola Kebab – comprised of minced-meat balls mixed with green chillies, coriander and onion stuffed with cheese. Summed up as “Well tasty”.

During the wait between starters and main course. The curry-talk kicked in. Tonight we discussed ways to promote the legendary Curry Council. DMS suggested we purchase 16 large helium balloons with the lettering C U R R Y C O U N C I L . C O M . We could then fix them together and release them inside the Kulshi on our next visit. Due to the sheer height of the ceiling the currycouncil.com message would present itself to the many visitors frequenting for years! Bean poo-pooed this idea and instead suggested “You know what we should do? Get a float on Stockport carnival. We could even hire some models to parade round holding a banner”. Curry talk at its best.

Onto the main event. Despite a huge selection of dishes four out of the six attendees opted for the classic Chicken Tikka Madras at just £4 (reduced from £5 utilizing an onionring 25% off voucher). This represented excellent value for money. CMS not a usual Madras-man stated “The chicken madras was extremely hot”, Noble-Madras agreed “the hottest chicken tikka madras ever, surely a vindaloo?”, “It tasted good but was far too hot, I suffered badly on the ‘ringstingometer’ the next day”.

The fieriness was appreciated by Gary Jordan who quipped “this is proper, old school chicken tikka madras of the correct hotness, 1992 style, really nice” – an accurate observation from Gaz. Highlighting that the strength of Madras has weakened over the last decade.

Bean ordered the Chicken/Lamb combo Jalfrezi. In line with the Madras, this was the hottest curry he had ever tasted, however it was extremely tasty and very nice. Bean recommends the purchase of Ring of Fire (After Curry Wipes) if you try this dish.

Woodman decided upon the Chicken Tikka Balti again at a hugely appealing £4. The dish contained “plenty of chicken” and came served in a balti wok (as cooked in India).

Pros

• ‘Old skool’ curry at ‘old skool’ prices. Almost half the price than city centre equivalents!
  
• Great building – incredibly spacious, great detail, unlike any other!
  
• Strength of madras.
  
• Family friendly – noticed a large number of high chairs. Ideal heading back from a day at the Trafford Centre with the family.
  
• Mint imperials at the end (with the bill). These do the job nicely. Who really wants a Ferrero Rocher after ba steaming hot curry?
  
• The place for any MPs looking to reduce their expenses when dining out. Excellent VFM.
  

Cons

• Fairly quiet. (compounded by the local competition? We counted three within short walking distance)
  
• Quality of Draught Cobra. (this was resolved with the minimum of fuss)

• No Madras on the buffet selection
  

CurryCouncil Rating
Food 8/10
Service 9/10
Atmosphere 7/10
Value for money 10/10
Originality 9/10

Overall 8.6/10